


can we stop the fall? (does it really matter at all?)

by ladyofthesun



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, But only for a bit, Character Death, F/F, Implied/Referenced Child Neglect, Look Kim is just an angst magnet and needs her Trini okay, Maligore makes an appearance, Trimberly Week, like so much angst but
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-06-01 19:07:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15149873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyofthesun/pseuds/ladyofthesun
Summary: She got down on her knees in front of Kim, whose helmet had retracted back into her armor, watching as a look of surprise crossed her eyes before they became empty. Trini whispered to the girl in front of her, hands coming up to cup her slightly glowing cheeks in yellow alien metal, “Kim, please. Kim, I know you’re in there. Come back to me.”Maligore has taken Kim under his control, making her fight the rangers, but Trini is sure she can get Kim back, no matter what it takes.Trimberly Week - Day 2 (angst)





	can we stop the fall? (does it really matter at all?)

Kim was no longer covered in the bright pink that the others had gotten used to, the black panels mixing fluidly with the new pink tone that lacked all the warmth from her old shade. Trini caught a glance of the sinister looking armour running around the corner as she lay on the floor, she had gotten off easy, they all had, Kim was capable of much worse.

The boys rushed up to her, Jason and Zack were relatively unscathed, but Billy was clutching his arm which Kim had grabbed in order to throw him into a wall when they had tried to contain her. Zack had pushed Billy’s arm back into its socket, and it was healing quickly but still felt sore, causing Billy to wince whenever his shoulder moved too much.

“Trini, we have to get back to the ship. Maligore has got Kim under his spell, there’s nothing we can do, come on.” Jason held out his hand, helping Trini onto her feet. Trini focused on the clashing shades of yellow and red as she cleared her head.

“No.” Jason let go of her hand in surprise.

“Excuse me?”

“She isn’t under Maligore’s control, not fully anyway. She could’ve killed us easily, you know she could, especially with the extra powers that walking rock gave her.” Trini’s helmet retracts into her armour, allowing the boys to see her pleading eyes, “She’s still in there, we can help her!”

“I’m sorry Trini, it’s too dangerous, we don’t know what she’ll do to us. Yes, she let us off this time, but who knows what Maligore would make her do if we went after her again?” Billy pleaded, he pulled away his visor, the boys following his example, only to be met with Trini shutting her eyes, shaking her head in denial.

“We have to try, who knows what Maligore would do to Kim? We gotta save her, please.” the boys looked at each other apprehensively, all thinking the same thing, knowing that Trini wouldn’t be happy with the thought. 

“Fine, if you won’t help then I’ll do it myself.” Trini rang towards Kim before any of the boys could realise what she meant, causing them to run after her, but Kim had always been the only one with any hope of catching the yellow ranger.

Trini ran until she could hear a slight whimpering sound, that had to be Kim, coming from an abandoned building in the large empty plot of land that used to be the quarry. As she got closer to the building the heat increased, causing her to be able to feel it through the armour, almost as harsh as the pit they had fallen into when battling Rita.

She heard a deep, demonic voice coming from inside the building, in response to Kim’s whimpers, “Glow, my sweet, you need to be at full strength when you retrieve the crystal for me and don’t let those ranger friends of yours get in the way again. Do you hear me?”

“Yes my lord.” Kim’s voice sounded empty, void of any emotion, a vessel for the molten lava monster to do his dirty work through. Trini peeked her head in through a doorway, only to find a sight that made bile rise in her throat.

The black panels on her armour that had previously looked smooth were now rough, looking as though they were molten rocks from the body of Maligore himself, digging into her skin, the source of control. A red glow escaped from the rock panels, Trini assumed that this was the heat source she had felt earlier, and knew that if Kim was in her right mind she would be screaming, trying to remove them. 

None of them were giant fans of heat, not after Rita.

The boys caught up to Trini, standing behind her as they watched the scene play out before them, Maligore telling Kim what she should do in different situations, and what her punishment would be should she fail. The entire time the rocks became slightly larger and larger, turning more panels black as the heat spread, Kim flinching at every inch that the darkness gained, yet she stood still, refusing to move as she knelt in front of the volcanic monster.

“You have to distract Maligore, I can get Kim back. I could see it the last time, she was right there, I know it.” Trini looked at the boys, pleading. 

They all turned to the red ranger, who shook his head, “I’m sorry Trini, we can’t risk it. Maligore’s influence has made her too powerful. Let’s go back to the ship and figure out a plan, maybe then we could-”

“She’s still a ranger! She could get onto the ship if she wanted to, we have to stop her before Maligore has completely overpowered her.” Jason still shook his head, “Screw you, I’m getting Kim back, with or without your help.”

“Trini don’t do anything stupid-” Zack tried to object, but Trini didn’t listen.

Before any of them could react, Trini saw her chance, Maligore had turned away from Kim, so Trini ran out towards the now only partially pink ranger. She knew that there was no chance that Maligore wouldn’t see her, and she didn’t know what she was expecting to do, how she would free Kim from this state, but she knew she had to try. She had a theory that once all the panels of Kim’s armor turned black, they would lose the girl that had become a part of their family, Trini would lose her best friend before they could even think about becoming something more. 

She got down on her knees in front of Kim, whose helmet had retracted back into her armor, watching as a look of surprise crossed her eyes before they became empty. Trini whispered to the girl in front of her, hands coming up to cup her slightly glowing cheeks in yellow alien metal, “Kim, please. Kim, I know you’re in there. Come back to me.” 

Trini’s eyes searched Kim’s, looking for any recognition as she kept muttering, trying to get her back, “Kim, please, fight it. Please. I don’t know what I’ll do without you. Please, Kim I- I lo-”

Before Trini could say the words she had known since their first day at the cliff, she felt her hair being pulled from behind her, accompanied by a slight sizzling sound as the smell of burnt hair hovered around her.

Maligore pulled her away from Kim, causing the yellow ranger to have to let go of Kim’s face, instead, trying to save her hair from being pulled out of her head. “And what do we have here? Another ranger for me to play with?” His other hand came up to her neck, smothering her in heat as he caressed her cheek with a finger.

“Let her go you walking rock!” Billy’s voice came from behind Maligore, and she saw a flash of black before Zack’s axe came hurtling out from behind her, embedding itself in Maligore’s shoulder, causing him to release her hair. She fell on the floor before scooting backwards, her neck aching.

“Pink! You know what to do with the girl!” His deep voice caused fear to run through Trini. She looked in Kim’s direction, watching as she nodded at her master, standing up slowly and walking towards Trini, who stumbled to her feet.

“Kim, please, I won’t fight you. This isn’t you. Please, Kim.” Her pleas were cut off by Kim punching her in the gut at full strength, much different to training.

“Come on Kim, you can fight this. I know you can.” Trini choked out, doubled over gasping as she moved away from Kim.

She kept begging as her helmet came up to protect her face. She could tell Kim was deliberately going slower, Kim’s speciality was quick attacks that her opponent doesn’t see coming. Not these incredibly strong but obviously projected attacks. It gave Trini hope that Kim was doing what she could, but Trini knew she could do more. 

“Kim you’re so strong, I know you can do this. Please.”

“Shut up.” Kim moved forward suddenly, pulling her hand back, giving Trini time to prepare a block as she tried to punch her in the face. Before Trini could say anything else, Kim pulled back her opposite leg, coming in for a sidekick which Trini also blocked.

The next few minutes were filled with this odd dance that the two girls fell into.

Punch. Block. Kick. Block. Punch. Block. Punch. Duck. Round Kick followed immediately by a punch to the head. Block the kick, duck the punch. 

Trini was still winded from the first punch, but she kept up with Kim’s furious pace. The boys had tried to intervene but didn’t see where they could fit in without breaking Trini’s already low concentration. Instead, they focused on Maligore, using everything that they could.

Then Trini tripped.

A loose rock had found its way under her slight heel, causing her to fall back, ruining their rhythm, and ruining Kim’s old method, as she straddled Trini’s hips, not letting her escape. Then she started punching Trini without mercy, not holding back, channelling Maligore’s power as well as her own.

Trini could feel her body giving up, losing her energy. Her helmet came down, allowing her to look Kim in the eyes as she took shallow, rasping breaths. The fire faded away from Kim’s eyes as Trini stopped struggling, the pink ranger’s arms freezing in the air as she furrowed her brows, shaking her head. Trini smiled as she watched the black panels be replaced by pink, Kim’s face contorting in pain as Maligore’s influence was driven out of her.

She looked up at the boys as her helmet withdrew from her head, her hands coming up to touch her temples as she let out a breath, releasing the eerie glow that had resided below her skin.

“You’re back.” Trini’s voice was quiet, weak, but relieved as she looked up at Kim, who only noticed her once she heard the words.

“Trini?”

“Hi.” Trini smiled weakly, before coughing, sweat dripping down her face as she groaned in pain.

“Trini, oh my god. I’m so sorry. Trini, what have I done?” Kim quickly got off the other girl. Trini’s armor started fading off from her body, the yellow ranger too weak to hold it, leaving her defenceless on the floor, her chest barely moving, eyes closed.

Kim cupped Trini’s head in her now fully pink armored hands, before pulling Trini’s head onto the pink rangers’ lap, tears falling freely down her face as she tried to find Trini’s pulse. 

It was fading quicker and quicker each second.

“Trini, please you can’t leave me. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. You can’t go.” Kim’s voice was frantic. Trying as hard as she could to keep Trini’s heart beating.

Trini looked up at the girl she had fallen in love with so quickly. She knew that her heart would never beat for anyone like it had for Kimberly Hart. But even Kim couldn’t save her failing heart now. 

Trini took in the deepest breath she could manage, her hand came up to Kim’s, who had been pressing on her chest like her mother had taught her for emergencies, effectively stopping Kimberly in her tracks.

She smiled up at Kim weak.

“It’s okay, I forgive you.” 

With her last words, she closed her eyes, determined to die with the picture of an angel burned into her eyelids, ignoring Kim’s repetitive chant, telling her she wasn’t allowed to leave her.

Trini’s heart stopped beating while she lay in the arms of the pink ranger.

Kim had lost everything, and it was all her fault.

Her home life had never been perfect, but that wasn’t her fault. Her parents had busy careers. So what if they were never home when Kim needed them? They saved lives. All Kim could do was end them.

Her life with the cheerleaders had gone up in flames, but that was her own fault. She had almost ruined Amanda’s life. She didn’t deserve to be trusted.

But she had found trust again. In the form of the rangers.

They believed that she could be a better person. They saw her potential. She had saved lives as a ranger. She felt powerful, she felt needed, she felt loved. Things she had never felt before. Not from her friends, not from her parents, not from anyone.

But her boys believed in her, they helped her when she was down, she knew she could count on them. 

And then there was Trini. 

Trini Kwan-Gomez had been a gift from above. The boys all believed that she could be a better person, but when Trini looked at her, it gave her an amazing feeling, and she herself actually believed that maybe, just maybe, she could be the person that the other rangers saw.

But Kim would never find that feeling again.

Because Trini was gone.

And Kim had killed her. Ruined the best thing in her life, just like how she ruined everything else.

Trini’s life had been getting better. Before Kim had been taken under Maligore’s control, Trini had excitedly told the group that her mother had come into Trini’s room, to talk to her, properly, instead of asking a million questions like all the other times. They hadn’t gone near the subject of Trini’s sexuality, but they had started a conversation, which was more than Trini once thought would ever happen. It was a huge step forward.

Trini’s life was starting to give her what she deserved. And then Kim killed her.

As Kim leant over Trini’s dead body, crying into the dead girl’s hair, the boys came up behind her. They had managed to contain Maligore long enough to see what was happening with the girls. Once Zack noticed Trini’s pale complexion, he dropped to his knees, where he could see the blood smeared around her neck, she had coughed it up when Kim broke her ribs with a kick, and Kim had later smeared it around when looking for a pulse.

“Kim?” Billy’s voice was shaking.

“She’s gone. I-” 

“It wasn’t your fault.” Jason tried to reach out and touch Kim’s shoulder, but she shoved it off. She didn’t deserve comfort.

“I would give my life for hers if I could.” She whispered the words that they had all said about Billy, all those months ago.

She felt a tug at her gut. It hurt, but not as much as Kim’s heart, so she ignored it.

Until her armor started to melt away, starting at her fingertips. Her power coin was burning in her back pocket, she pulled it out but it burnt a scorch mark on her now armorless hand. This is it, she thought, I’m not worthy anymore. How could she be a hero when she couldn’t even stop herself from killing the girl she- 

Her thoughts were cut off when she noticed a yellow glow coming from the pocket of the plaid shirt Trini was wearing over her graphic tee. The glowing pocket sitting right above her heart.

Kim’s armour was now gone from her arms and her legs up to her knees, but yellow armor seemed to be leaking out from the pocket where Trini’s coin must be. It was faint, but it was unmistakable. Kim’s fingers immediately searched for Trini’s pulse again, finding it after a moment, fainter than earlier, but there. It was definitely there.

Kim let out a gasp of relief as her armor looked as though it had moved from her to Trini, somehow bringing her back to life. After a moment, Kim realised that she hadn’t stopped gasping. She felt as though a large weight was pressing against her chest at all sides. Unlike earlier she didn’t feel unbearably hot, instead, she felt a chill run up her spine before it overpowered her whole body. Kim fell back from Trini’s body, no longer touching the girl, but able to see a steady rise and fall of her chest. 

The weight was unbearable now. Kim mirrored the other girl, closing her eyes while she looked at the yellow armor covering every inch of Trini’s body. She was alive. Kim had saved her.

 

* * *

Once Trini had woken up, she helped the boys defeat Maligore, having been given a massive power boost from Kim.

Kim.

The girl was stupid but alive. Trini was able to breathe again for the first time since they found out that Kim was under Maligore’s control. They all carried Kim’s body back to the ship, and Trini hadn’t left her side for days.

Alpha was quick to fix the broken rib and punctured lung that she had somehow taken from Trini. The alien robot told the other rangers that they couldn’t do anything else to wake her up, but Kim would wake up, in time.

Trini texted her mother that there had been an emergency, and that she wouldn’t be home for a while, but that she would be safe and would come back, before turning off her phone to avoid the questions that she knew would come. Her mother had started a conversation, but she was still June Kwan-Gomez, it was hard to change her entire personality in a few days.

So Trini stayed with Kim, not leaving the uncomfortable cot that Jason had dragged up to only a foot away from Kim’s matching one after Trini spent the first night curled up on the floor. The boys alternated bringing her food, Jason got her breakfast, Billy brought homemade sandwiches for lunch, and Zack always remembered to bring her mostly warn dinner after he had cooked for his mother. 

Trini was napping after eating dinner when Kim woke up. Luckily, Zack was sitting at the end of Trini’s bed, tapping away at his phone, “Sleeping Beauty awakens. Has it been 100 days yet? Trini didn’t even kiss you! She hasn’t left your side in weeks.”

“Zack shut up it’s been three days.” Trini’s tired voice came out from under the thin blanket, her head poked out to glare at Zack before her gaze softened as she looked at Kim smiling adoringly back at her. “He’s almost as stupid as you are.”

Kim let out a sigh before wrinkling her nose and closing her eyes, “I don’t know what you mean.”

“That was a stupid idea, you could’ve died!” Trini got off her cot, and Zack sensing the conversation that was about to take place also jumped off his end of the bed.

“I’m gonna tell the others you’re awake, Trini really hasn’t left your bedside this entire time Kim.” At his words Kim’s brows furrowed, Trini pursed her lips as she crossed her arms.

“Trini, what about your parents?”

“I don’t care, they’re alive, you were the one that was touch and go for a while. What gave you the stupid idea to pull a stunt like that?”

“It wasn’t like I planned it, it just happened. I wouldn’t change it though. Your life is more important than mine. I just ruin ever-”

“Shut up.”

Kim’s voice sounded confused, “What?”

“Your life is important too. For god’s sake Kim, don’t you get how important you are to me?” Trini’s hand came off from her arm to run through her still slightly singed hair.

“You’re important to me too. I couldn’t leave you to die. Anyway, look, I’m fine!” Kim moved to try and sit up, before wincing, which in turn caused Trini to rush forward and support her back, muttering the words “idiot” and “stupid” and a few Spanish words Kim didn’t recognise.

Kim and Trini were now sitting side by side, Trini’s hand was on the other girls back, their faces less than half a foot away from each other. “Trini, you are so important to me, I don’t know what I would do without you in my life. I lo-”

“Don’t say it.”

“What?”

“Don’t tell me that you love me just because you’re filled with guilt because you killed me. Don’t play with both of our feeling’s like that.”

“I’m not playing. Trini I’ve known that I love you for ages. Ever since that first coffee date that we had where we fought over our last piece of food, I knew how important you would be to me. I’m sorry it took both of us almost dying for me to realise it, but I promise you. I love you, Trini Kwan-Gomez. And I always will. Losing you would have ruined me. I could never, ever, let that happen.”

Trini’s eyes were full of tears as she heard Kim’s words, “I love you too you idiot.” Trini blinked away her tears before sniffing slightly, “Now if you don’t kiss me after all of that then I’m breaking up with you before we even start dating.”

Kim laughed and then leaned forward to give Trini a sweet kiss, filled with relief.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Hayley Kiyoko's Molecules
> 
> Scream at me on tumblr @powerrangershumour


End file.
